5 pitfalls to avoid while hiring exceptional talent

May 13, 2019Debankan Chattopadhyay

Today, we flip the coin over and give you insight into
some of the pitfalls to avoid during the hiring
process. These apply to all hiring processes,
engineering or otherwise. Here are some of the most
interesting ones.

This is a continuation of our earlier post where we
discussed some of the best practices for hiring
exceptional engineering talent and giving you an
insider’s look at what worked for us.

Today, we flip the coin over and give you insight into
some of the pitfalls to avoid during the hiring
process. These apply to all hiring processes,
engineering or otherwise. Here are some of the most
interesting ones.

Don’t oversell

Look, all of us do this or have done this at some
point. Hopefully, we have learned our lesson and
decided not to. What am I referring to? To give
potential hires the impression that you are the best
company, offering the most challenging work
environment, with the best benefits, and so on. First
off, it doesn’t sound believable to anyone even with
an average intelligence. To the rockstars you are
trying to hire, it comes across as disingenuous. You
lose your credibility and any hopes of hiring that
person. But that’s not the worse outcome. What
could be worse is if that person buys into your pitch,
and does decide to work for you. Now, you’re in a
bind. Because, very soon, they will be disillusioned
and be ready to update their LinkedIn profiles!
Probably, not before you have invested 6-9 months
of your time in them to see them walk right out the
door! It’s easier said than done, but it’s always good
hiring policy to be honest and direct about your
company and what you do. Maybe you will be
rejected by a lot of potential hires, but those who do
say yes, are in it for the long haul.

Don’t focus on making yourself look good

No, I wasn’t referring to physical appearances. Of
course, both the interviewer and interviewee ought
to look sharp…always. But, as is the case with many
hiring processes, there is an interview panel
comprising of a small group of people. Don’t make
the interview about yourself. The only reason you’re
in that room or on the call is to use your skills
(technical or otherwise) to vet the new hire. It is not…I
repeat NOT…an opportunity for you to try and
look/sound smart in the room or cast an impression
with your boss about how good you are. That’s not
the goal. Don’t lose sight of it. So choose your
questions accordingly.

Don’t ignore cultural fit

When you’re on the other side of the interview, it’s
likely because you have spent some time at the
organization. Long enough to get a good
understanding of the “organizational culture” or as
most of us laymen call it “how things work around
here”. If you don’t, then you shouldn’t be making
hiring decisions. Because cultural fit is a very
important criteria that people tend to underestimate
or worse still, completely ignore. Often times, we
hope that if we pay people enough, they will adapt
to any situation at work. Nothing could be further
from the truth. Research has shown that inability to
align oneself with the corporate culture is one of the
top reasons people quit their jobs. So, while you do
not need to let potential hires know if you have a
particularly inflexible or top-down culture, it
behooves you to understand their personality traits
and make a judgement on whether they will fit. If you
don’t get a resounding “yes” in your head in two
seconds, don’t hire.

Don’t place degrees over drive

I’m assuming you already have a hiring process to
weed out candidates who don’t meet your minimum
educational qualifications for the job. That’s a given.
But once the candidates are past that and you end
up interviewing them, place as much importance, if
not more, to their “drive” and personal goals, as
much as their professional and educational
achievements. It’s a nuanced thing but something
that most experienced Human Resource
professionals should be adept at. Get a sense of what
motivates the individual. Ask them what was the last
thing they did that made them proud of their own
selves. Be honest with yourself. If you get a sense that
someone doesn’t have any drive, it will give you a
sense of whether that person will be a go-getter. If
such an attitude is a misfit for the role, move on from
this candidate. On the other hand, if you think the
person’s drive/ambition is likely to move at a much
faster clip than what the role provides, then…well,
even then you are better off moving on. It’s
important you assess and select candidates who you
think expect to move at the same clip as the current
role you want to hire them in. There could be
nothing worse than investing in someone for a
period of time and then seeing them walk out the
door.

Don’t go unprepared

This is 2019. Everyone has access to Google. People
know most commonly asked canned questions and
are prepared for them. Don’t ask them the obvious.
Spend some time trying to frame questions that will
help you understand the candidate better. Avoid
“where do you see yourself 5 years from now?” kind of
questions. If you do, you will get the typical responses
that won’t do any good in your hiring decision. This of
course requires you to be disciplined and spend some
time before each interview to prep yourself with
questions that will get the most out of that person.
Remember time is precious in an interview and you’re
looking to make important decisions for your
company. Your lack of preparation can hurt the
organization.

In conclusion...

Good people are hard to find. We get it. And all of us
are likely tapping into the same talent pool. So, in our
quest to hire the best people available, we might
have committed some of these “sins”. But I’m also
hopeful that we have all learned (we certainly have)
our lessons and are better for it, by avoiding them
now, and being able to hire & retain exceptional
people who over time contribute to the success of
our companies.